


Say You Believe It

by brandnewsoul



Category: Pitch Perfect (2012)
Genre: Female Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-20
Updated: 2012-12-20
Packaged: 2017-11-21 16:56:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/600027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brandnewsoul/pseuds/brandnewsoul
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Aubrey is introspective and the Bellas bond over the Spice Girls.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Say You Believe It

**Author's Note:**

  * For [janet_carter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/janet_carter/gifts).



Everyone is strangely quiet as they walk to the pool, so Aubrey is relieved when Chloe breaks the ice and asks, "So, does anyone else have something that they want to share with the rest of us?"

Aubrey hears someone clearing her throat. She has to fight the urge to tell the other girl that throat-clearing is bad for the vocal chords; that if something doesn't feel right back there she should just cough to get it all out, but she bites her tongue. She knows what they've said about her over the course of the past four years because it's exactly the same thing that the kids at the three high schools she went to said: _Aubrey Posen's a control freak._

"That's a great idea," Aubrey says cheerfully. Beca's right: they don't really know each other, and that's a hindrance for their team. If they're going to try to put together a new set for Nationals, they should get to know more about each other besides names and vocal placement, and they should have _conversations_ with each other that don't pertain to song choice and choreography. She turns to look back at the Bellas who have yet to bare their aca-souls to the rest of them. "Someone? Anyone?"

Next to her, Fat Amy _ahems_ so loudly that Aubrey almost wants to wring her neck. ( _Almost_ is the key word here; earlier in the year, she found herself constantly annoyed by Amy's… Amy-ness, but that dislike was eclipsed by contempt for Beca. Aubrey figures that this has to be some sort of progress.) "I'd love to go, but the other part of me is saying, 'How's about you', since, uh, all we know about you is that you can go full _Exorcist_ on command…"

"Not just on any command, at _Chloe's_ command," Stacie chimes in. Aubrey can hear the snarky suggestiveness in her tone. "I mean, that's pretty kinky if you—"

Chloe turns around and snaps her fingers like a dog owner reprimanding an errant puppy. "Oh-kay now!" she says in a harsher tone than her usual bright and bubbly. "That's over with. Bygones."

The other Bellas have come to a stop right in the middle of the quad. It's hauntingly empty, due to the rest of the student body still being away on spring break while the Bellas try to regroup before the biggest competition of their acapella lives. Aubrey adjusts the collar of her coat as she looks at the other girls. They look somewhat shocked by the sudden boldness that Chloe's shown over the past few hours. _She's always been like this,_ Aubrey wants to say. Just as she's prone to stress-induced nausea, Chloe is prone to occasional combativeness when it comes to people that she likes.

This is why Chloe's lady aca-boner for Beca worries Aubrey so much. Back when Megan was running the Bellas, Aubrey had been the go-to whipping girl. It was nothing that Aubrey wasn't used to. After years of listening to her father mix and match metaphors just so that he could tell her that she wasn't living up to her potential, the barbs from the head Bella didn't hurt her too much. But—thank _God_ —Chloe became her advocate. They had both tried out during the last auditions when everyone had been allowed to pick their own songs, and when she finished singing "Because You Loved Me", Chloe gave her a thumbs-up. When they went to the post-induction mixer, she'd rushed up to Aubrey, hugged her, and showered her with praise: _Oh my God I'm so glad you got in, I love your voice._

She was Aubrey's first friend at Barden. Her first real friend since Taylor Warren, who was the only person that Aubrey had ever known who devoutly wore her half of a BFF necklace. (That friendship had ended in seventh grade, when Aubrey's father announced that they were relocating to Georgia. They were gone so fast that she didn't even have the time to tell Taylor goodbye.) They always roomed together when the Bellas went on the road, and after their first year Chloe suggested that they should become roommates. Sometimes, when the lights were out and they were supposed to have long since fallen asleep, they would talk. There was something about the darkness that made them bold, and it was only then that Aubrey told Chloe about her father. How he would brag and gush about her brothers to anyone who would listen, and how he had mastered the art of the backhand compliment when it came to her.

The other girls have started walking again. Aubrey practically has to charge forward so that she can stay in step with Chloe and Amy. They're all quiet again until Chloe pokes her in the side. "I know," she says loud enough for the others to hear. "Did you know that Aubrey cried when she got to see the Spice Girls live?"

"Chloe!" Aubrey shouts.

"What? It's true." Chloe turns and starts to walk backwards so that she can address the other girls. "And it wasn't even in the '90s. It was when they did their reunion show in '08. She still has their Polaroid camera."

"Was that the one that printed pictures on the little stickers?" Beca asks.

"Nah, that was a completely different camera," says Cynthia Rose. "I had the sticker camera, though. Loved that thing. And the Spice Girls."

"Really?" Aubrey says as she looks over her shoulder.

"Uh, who _doesn't_?" Amy asks. "Only people who hate fun and the most hipster of hipsters do, and they barely even count. Sorry, Beca."

Beca rolls her eyes. "Hey, I never said that I didn't like the Spice Girls." She lowers her voice and adds, "They… their first album might have been the first one that I bought with my own money."

"No shame in that," Stacie says as she wraps an arm around Beca's shoulder. Aubrey snickers as a look of shock crosses Beca's face while Stacie pats her head. "Ginger Spice is my spirit animal."

"I'll bet," says Beca as she wriggles away from Stacie's embrace.

"Ooh, know what?" Amy is practically bouncing and her hair is bobbing everywhere, especially right in Aubrey's face. She takes a step back while Amy bounces a half-circle around her. "We should've done '2 Become 1' at the riff-off. It would've _killed._ "

Aubrey swears that she can hear Lilly say something—but really, it seems like Lilly's _always_ saying something that none of them can actually comprehend—but that thought's chased away the moment that Amy starts singing the opening verse of the mentioned song. Off-putting as Aubrey finds her, she does have to admit that Amy does have a nice voice. Then Cynthia Rose picks up the second part: _Free your mind of doubt and danger, be for real, don't be a stranger._ Someone else is singing along with her—Ashley, maybe, or Chloe throwing in a little bit of harmony in her now-soft alto.

And now Aubrey joins in, mostly because Baby Spice was her favorite of the group. The night is so still, and there's no one outside but her and the others. This, she thinks, this is what she loves about singing: those still moments when you can hear your voice loud and clear and when the other voices begin to blend in with your own to create something brilliant and new.

The other girls jump in at the chorus, even though some titter at the _wanna make love to you, baby_ part, they transition back into the verses seamlessly. Amy picks up with Sporty's line and she elbows Beca in the side when she's done. Beca sighs and sings, " _Once again as we endeavor, love will bring us back together…_ "

Stacie makes a T with her hands. "Time out! You're singing it wrong."

"No, I'm not," Beca objects.

"I think she's right," Cynthia Rose says. "That's not part of the song."

Beca shakes her head. "No, it's part of the song. Victoria sings it."

"She's right."

It's the second time in the span of about two hours that Aubrey's found herself agreeing with Beca. The first time was out of need and necessity; this time, it's because of fact. "There's two versions of the song," she explains. "One's the album version with Ginger singing, and the other is the single-slash-music video edit with Victoria singing a different line." She meets Beca's eyes and smiles at her. "I liked the video version better."

"Really." Beca draws out the syllables so that it sounds halfway between a question and a statement.

Aubrey turns her head toward the pool. They're so close—not just to the pool, but to Nationals and a shot at redemption both for her _and_ for the Bellas. Her compulsion to micromanage their style has held them back and stressed her out, and it would be _lovely_ to try to share that burden with someone else.

"Really," she says as they make the final approach. "I don't suppose that we could do a medley for Nationals—"

"As much as I'm all for Girl Power," Beca says with a slight grimace, "I'm thinking we should stick with material from, oh, post-2000. That okay?"

Aubrey nods. "Yes. Let's get to work."

**Author's Note:**

> So, you said you liked cheesy pop and R&B and happy endings, so I gave you the gift of the Spices. Hope that you enjoy!


End file.
